Natural Tips to Cure Smelly Feet

Known to the medical profession as bromhidrosis, and to the rest of us as stinky feet, foot odour can be embarrassing for you and unpleasant for those around you. We all have bacteria growing all over our bodies and they don’t usually cause us any problem at all. When you put on your shoes and socks, however, those bacteria find themselves in the perfect dark, damp place to multiply like crazy and it is the activity of the bacteria that causes the smell. Anyone can suffer with smelly feet, but it can be easily avoided, so read tense ten natural tips on how to cure smelly feet forever.

1. Wear a different pair of shoes every day

Our first tip is simple: don’t wear the same pair of shoes two days running. The bacteria that cause smelly feet loves damp places and, if you wear the same pair of shoes two days running, then your shoes won’t get the time that they need to dry out properly.

2. Keep your feet clean

Our second, rather obvious, tip on how to cure smelly feet is to make your sure you wash your feet every day. In fact, the best thing to do, if you do suffer with particularly bad smelly feet, is to wash your feet twice a day with and antibacterial soap or baking soda. There are plenty of over-the-counter anti-bacterial soaps that you can buy that will do the job.

3. Sprinkle baking soda in your shoes at night

When you put your shoes away at night, give the insides of your shoes a light dusting of baking soda. Baking soda is a natural deodoriser that will kill the bacteria that cause smelly feet. If you do this every time you take your shoes off, and you wash your feet regularly with an anti-bacterial soap, the problem will soon disappear.

4. Put trainers and sneakers in the freezer

Sneakers and trainers are the worst culprits for causing smelly feet. Not only do they hold the moisture in, you also normally wear them when you sweat the most, so they might need more drastic action to kill off the bacteria. Put your trainers into a sealable plastic bag and leave them in the freezer for a couple of days and that will kill all the bacteria stone dead.

5. Essential oils

Essential oils have strong antibacterial properties and they also smell great too. So our next tip on how to cure smelly feet is to treat a pair of shoes with an essential oil, soak a strip of paper in the oil and then leave it inside the shoes overnight. Most of the essential oils will work, but tea tree is often said to be the best for beating foot odour.

Putting vinegar on your feet when they already smell may not seem like a great idea, but it does kill off the bacteria very effectively. Just soak your feet in a solution of half a cup of apple cider vinegar mixed with five cups of water for fifteen minutes and then rinse your feet with cold water afterwards.

7. Exfoliate your feet

Exfoliating your feet regularly is another useful tip on how to cure smelly feet. It will clean away the bacteria from your feet and it will remove dead skin, which can become a breeding ground for the smell making bacteria when it becomes damp. The best thing to use for this would be olive oil, sugar and a few drops of essential oil. That would exfoliate your feet and you would have the antibacterial properties of the essential oil too.

8. Sage leaves

Another good tip on how to cure smelly feet is to use sage leaves. If you grind up some dried sage leaves and sprinkle the powder in your shoes, it will reduce the sweating and fight the bacteria that cause smelly feet. Sage is an astringent, so it will close up the sweat glands slightly. It also has anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, which will also fight the bacteria that cause foot odour.

9. Black tea foot soak

A black tea foot soak is another wonderful tip on how to cure smelly feet. Black tea contains tannic acid that is very effective at killing bacteria and tea will also close up your pores to help to stop the sweating. Steep two teabags in three cups of boiling water, then add some cold water to cool it down and soak your feet in it for about ten minutes.

10. Salt water soak

The simplest of all foot soaks for smelly feet is salt water. Add half a cup of salt to warm water and soak your feet ten minutes in the solution. The salt will dry out your feet and kill off the bacteria too. This is a great solution for foot odour when you have nothing else to use in your cupboards.